Strategy partner to nonprofit leaders.
At Cowins Consulting, we support nonprofit organizations in strategic planning, strategic management and stakeholder reporting. Our approach prioritizes three primary objectives: promoting the stability and sustainability of the organization, enhancing the effectiveness of its programs, and aiding organizational leadership in advocating for the resources necessary to fund those programs.
If you are initiating a strategic planning cycle, contemplating a new program or initiative, considering a shift in the scale or scope of your organization, or drafting a grant application, we can help.
About Us
At Cowins Consulting, we utilize a framework centered around analytical insights, data-driven decisions, and transparent communications. In practice, these principles work together to:
Enhance resource stewardship
Whether developing a comprehensive plan for the next 3-5 years or making a discrete decision about how to deploy scarce resources to support a new program or initiative, it is important to establish a rigorous process for decision-making. Developing decision frameworks and updating them to ensure they are fit for purpose equips organizations with the tools necessary to anticipate challenges and plan for contingencies. This approach improves efficiency and empowers leadership to respond quickly and effectively to changing conditions.
Measure program effectiveness
Mechanisms for assessing the effectives of new programs or initiatives should be developed well in advance of implementation. This enables the development of the infrastructure necessary to collect and analyze assessment data. Additionally, establishing a set of program-specific metrics and benchmarks allows organizations to engage in ongoing monitoring activities, making it easier to identify issues before they worsen. Early intervention minimizes the amount of resources consumed by ineffective approaches.
Build trust through transparency
While financial statements and tax reports meet certain mandated reporting requirements, they are not sufficient to communicate the effectiveness of an organization's programs. Further, they are developed with a particular audience in mind, one that is primarily concerned with financial management and regulatory compliance. In contrast, a stakeholder reporting framework that prioritizes program performance and flows naturally from the organization's activities and objectives is better suited to support the development efforts of organizational leadership.
Services
Strategic Planning
We support the strategic planning cycles of our clients by guiding discussions with the organization's strategy team, reviewing available research and conducting data analysis. Additionally, we develop financial budgets that connect organizational goals to resources and inform the development of structural supports necessary to meet the programmatic goals articulated in the strategic plan.
Strategic Management
We support the ongoing monitoring and assessment efforts of our clients by developing a set of short-, medium-, and long-term metrics appropriate to evaluate program performance. Additionally, we evaluate our client's data environment to inform investment in the requisite data collection and analysis tools. Finally, we design internal reporting solutions to summarize and communicate performance outcomes and guide decision-making.
External Stakeholder Reporting
We support the development efforts of our clients by analyzing the composition of the organization's funding network and designing performance reports that meet their specific information needs.
Training and Support
We support the implementation needs of our clients by providing live training and support services to the organization's staff. This ensures the continued performance of tools designed to meet the monitoring, assessment, and reporting needs of the organization.
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